Thorn's Journal
by Jonescalypso
Summary: Afraid that Envy's recklessness might corrupt her plans, Dante has suggested he keep himself occupied by taking ownership of a slave from the desert traders. Now he is in possession of a young mute girl - with absolutely no idea of what to do with her.


**A/N: Ok guys. I've never posted a fanfic before so... here goes. **

**This is an idea that came to me while watching "Fullmetal Alchemist". I was very interested in the Homunculi, but I noticed that they all had someone to tag along with: Lust was often with Gluttony, Pride was with Sloth, and when Wrath came along he was also constantly in her company. Even Greed, being an outcast of the group had his own gang of criminals for company. But Envy was often left to work on his own (when he wasn't teamed up with Lust and Gluttony).**

** There are a few other things that sparked this specific idea but I wont bore you with those specifics right now. I do however have more to this story that explains how slave traders came to be the answer to Envy's lack of company, and how he gave the girl her name... IF anyone's interested. For now, here's this. I hope it's not too confusing with the minimal explanations. The girl is 17 btw. Her physical description is in another part.**

**Oh, also - this is based of the ANIME of the FIRST series, not the manga or "Brotherhood". That means that Envy is the result of the failed human transmutation of Hohenheim's first son... aka Envy's a MALE in this version. I know there's all this debate about it, but in my version, he is in fact a "he" who's taken on an androgynous persona after centuries of impersonating both men and women. **

**I originally had this written so that both characters' writing were in different fonts but that option doesn't seem to be available on this site so it's all in italics. sorry about that. **

**Reviews and constructive criticism are appreciated. **

**(Yes there are some typos, but they are _deliberate._ You'll see why.)**

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><p>(In the rooms of Dante's Mansion...)<p>

~ Thorn's Journal ~

_My new master handed me this book… Told me to rite my thots in it…_

_Anything you want, he said. Any thots you have, you can keep them all in here…_

_Ive never don this befor. Im not very good at riting. But Master said to rite so I should rite…. Something._

_This bedroom is huge. And it's dark. The bed cover is soft. - I shouldn't touch anything…_

_I don't know where the master went. He said he wood be back in a wile. I don't know how long that is, could be anytime…. I don't know what time it is. There's light coming thru the window but I cant see the sun. I think it should be close to midday._

The door opened, making her jump. Envy came in and raised a small square chalkboard in his hand, a tiny sandbag hung on a string from the corner.

"Found it. You know how to use this, don't you?"

She stood and nodded. He looked at the little book in her hand, "How's it going?"

The girl timidly handed him the book and lowered her gaze. He opened it and looked at her, "Don't have much on your mind, do you?"

She flinched with shame. Envy smirked as he read what she had written and pointed to the little mantle clock on the table, "There's a clock right there."

She looked blankly at it then at him.

"Or do you not know how to tell time?"

She shook her head.

Envy sighed and brushed his hair back. He walked over and sat on the bed, looking first at her, then at the journal. "Your spelling needs work too, but I figured as much. Actually you write better than I expected. Probably from writing to your old masters, huh?"

She nodded and hesitated in reaching for the chalkboard.

"Here," Envy offered it up.

She took it and wrote a line, then showed it to him, "_they didnt let me rite much_." He read it and looked up at her, so she buffed the words off and wrote some more, then turned it, "_I was hit for not spelling correct_."

"Poor leadership," he scoffed and twisted his mouth in thought, "Well I don't intend to hit you, certainly not for misspelling. That's not my style. If I _were _to hit you, you had it coming," a wicked grin spread across his face as he added, "And I'll be sure to remind you of why."

She looked uneasy but nodded.

"Give me the pencil." He made little marks in the journal then said, "Come here."

The girl knelt down by his knees and he showed her what he'd done, pointing with the pencil.

"These words here are underlined because they're misspelled. I've written the correct spelling here." He pointed to a small list of words in the margin.

"Also there are two forms of 'right'. The one you're trying to use is this one. That means writing like writing words. The other one is spelled like this:_ Right_ . That's for when you want to say 'right and wrong' or 'left and right'. Or 'correct'. If you want to say something is right, you spell it this way. Understand?"

She nodded, though he could tell she didn't completely.

"Just practice," he handed her the journal and pencil. "You'll get the idea the more writing you do."

She pointed the pencil tip at the word _Write_ in the margin.

"That's right."

She pointed at the other one, _Right_.

"There, you've got it. And if you forget, just look back at those."

A small smile of encouragement spread across her face and she bowed her head in thanks.

"Fine. Now tell me why you won't eat."

The slave picked up the chalkboard and wrote another line, "_We are told not to eat in our masters presense_."

"Why not?"

She buffed and wrote again, "_They said it's rude. And revolting_"

"You're owners or the traders said that?"

"_Both_"

Envy frowned, "Are you a messy eater?"

She meekly shook her head, tucking her brown hair timidly behind her ear.

"I've had food brought in here when you were alone, why didn't you eat it then?"

She wrote again, "_We are told not to eat until our master has taken the first bite_."

"WHAT_?" _he scowled. When she nodded he scoffed and said, "So they tell you if your master doesn't eat off your plate first, you're suppose to just starve?"

She nodded again.

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard! Get over there!" he jerked his head to the food tray in the corner.

She blinked at him.

"Go on!"

She hurried to her feet and crossed the room. Envy followed still scowling, "Humans think they're so high and mighty." He stood opposite her and lifted the cover lid. The wonderful smell of deer stew sailed up to the girl's nose and her stomach growled loudly. There was also a plate of sliced bread and a small cup of butter.

"Take a bite," Envy said.

She looked up at him, bewildered.

"Anything, I don't care what. Take some of that bread."

Flustered, she reached for a slice of bread, but instead slid the plate closer to Envy.

"No, I'm not eating it, _you_ eat it."

She looked forlornly at the food, as though she were stuck.

"Look, I don't care what your other masters told you. _I'm _your master now and I'm telling you, you get to eat."

She picked up a piece of bread and stared at it.

"Nothing bad's going to happen to you if you eat without me picking off your plate. And besides, you'll rarely catch me eating human food anyway. If I do it's for taste value or it's in character. You'll have to break this habit if you don't wanna starve to death."

The girl gave a small sigh and _very _reluctantly raised the bread and took a bite, her eyes constantly shifting toward Envy as she did. Once she swallowed, he cocked his head.

"See? No problem. Have some more."

She took more bites until the bread was gone.

Envy smiled, "There. Not so hard, is it? Now eat till you're full."

Her head shot up again and she stared in disbelief.

"You're no good to me if you don't keep your energy up."

He glanced at the long desk. "Here, I'll take the edge off for you." He took a glass and bottle of wine, pulled the cork out and poured some for himself.

Then he turned and raised his glass, "Now you're not alone."

She smiled and put her hands together, bowing thanks again.

Envy made a toast gesture to her and drank. He kept his face forward to keep her from getting nervous, but he watched sidelong as she helped herself to more bread and some stew, each bite less timid than the last. Still she ate quietly, not too fast. And not so much as a crumb hit the floor.

"You're not revolting," he said after a while. She froze and looked up at him. "You have better table manners than Gluttony." He swirled the wine in his glass, "Though _that's_ not saying much… But I've seen many grown men who don't eat as politely as you."

Unsure how to respond, the slave poured water from the pitcher into a glass and drank it.

She was blushing.

Envy smirked and sipped more wine. His eyes scanned the room, and he thought this may be the first time anyone had given the girl a compliment in her life. His gaze landed on the bed.

"I also notice that you've been sleeping on the floor. And I haven't seen you touch the chair. Is that another one of their rules? They tell you to keep off the furniture?"

She nodded.

"Huh… Who would've thought maids had it better to slaves… I don't see much 'slave' work for you to do here anyway. Maybe we shouldn't call you that…. You'll be my 'personal servant', how's that?"

She thought a moment and raised her head in a half-nod, then gathered her dishes neatly and put the lid back on the tray.

"That means you're allowed to sit in the chairs and sleep on the bed. If you want to, it makes no difference to me. Just know you're not restricted to the floor. I don't care where you sleep."

The girl stared at the gigantic bed with the soft velvet covers and her head began to spin. Even if she were a speaker all this generosity would've rendered her speechless anyway. She picked up the chalk board, wrote a message and walked over to him with it, "_Thank you Master_"

He laughed, "It's not a big deal. But I admire your gratitude."

She stared at her message, then added under it, "_I dont think I deserve this jenerositty_"

Envy grinned, "I think _I'll_ decide what you deserve from now on."

She nodded agreement and buffed the board again.

Envy finished his wine, "Now I have something else for you to do. I'm going to take that tray downstairs and while I'm gone, I want you to make a list. Write down all the rules those traders taught you and anything else your previous masters ordered. Understand?"

She nodded.

"I anticipated having to do some work on you, but I'll need to know exactly what I'm dealing with."

And with that, he added his wine glass to the tray and took it out of the room.

The girl took a deep breath to steady her nerves. Surely this couldn't be as good as it seemed.

She walked over to the bed and gingerly ran her fingers over the emerald green covers. She'd never felt "plush" before, it was wonderful. She ran her hand back and forth along it - then she remembered Envy was coming right back and he wanted a list. The journal had more room than the chalkboard so she sat on the edge of the bed and opened it to a fresh page. It took some thinking of where to start, she wasn't sure how to write it….

_A slave is the property of only her master. Her body, mind, voys, and skills belong to no one but him, unless he commands otherwise._

_You must remember that you are nothing, and he is evrything._

_Do not rayz your eys to his level._

_Do not speak before he speaks to you._

_Do not hide yourself from his gaze_

_Do not deni him pleasure of your services in any way, at any time_

_Do not eat until he has eaten. Do not drink before he has drunk._

_Do not expect fairness._

_Do not expect gratitude._

_You must obey him in all things with no question._

_Keep yourself presentable, never shame your master._

_You live only for his enjoyment._

She tried to remember anything else. She read over her list and felt sick inside. She didn't deserve to sit on the bed.

Envy came back in then, "It looks like we'll be leaving soon."

The girl jumped to her feet as soon as the door opened. Envy stopped, "What's wrong with you?"

She lowered her gaze and offered him the open journal.

He took it and read, frowning. "Vo-ee, what? What is this?" He pointed to "_voys_".

She looked and tapped her throat with two fingers.

"Oh, _voice. _Geez, give me that pencil." He made a couple marks and continued reading. His brow creased as he went, and he even shook his head at one point. "Humans are so conceited, it makes me sick." His eyes ran over the list one more time then he looked at the girl, "How can you spell 'gratitude' but you can't spell 'voice'?"

She shrugged.

"Never mind, it's not important… Well I do agree that you should keep yourself looking presentable, it should be that way for everyone… It says here 'you must obey him in all things with no question', right?"

She nodded.

"Good, because we're going to tweak this list and _then_ you're going to do what itsays." He grinned at her confused look. "These people are too uptight. And these rules make you too tense for me to tolerate. So rule number one: _relax_. Don't keep waiting for me to backhand you, I told you already, it's not my style. I _have_ opponents to fight if I get angry. Just do as I tell you and we wont have any problems."

She swallowed and nodded.

"Sit down."

She took her seat on the bed again, listening intently.

Envy looked at the list again, "And this - 'do not raise your eyes to his level' - you can forget that one," he crossed it out. "I'll tell you if I want you to look elsewhere… 'Do not speak before he speaks to you' - well we don't seem to have that problem with you." He crossed it out and raised his eyebrow at her.

She lowered her gaze, caught herself and forced her eyes to look at him again.

"If you have a question, just write it down… 'Do not hide yourself from his gaze'… meaning what?"

She picked up the chalkboard, "_Like in the bathhouse_"

He blinked a moment, then half-lidded his eyes, "Not interested."

She looked taken aback.

"Nothing personal. I've seen plenty of clothing-less bodies, I just don't think that way."

Now sheer disbelief covered her face.

"Incredible, I know. People are sick. But it _is _true that your body is my property, so you don't need to be shy about it. But it's not like I'm out to leer at you, so you'll have your privacy as well…. And we already covered the eating arrangements. What do you do?"

She buffed the chalkboard and wrote, "_Eat when you tell me to eat._"

"And you can eat what is brought to you _when_ it's brought, is that clear?"

She buffed and wrote, "_Yes, Master_"

"Good. The rest of this list is pointless, so all you need to know is that _I'm_ the one you listen to. And unless I tell you to do something, just relax and…" he shrugged, "I dunno, enjoy living in the moment."

She nodded and gave a small smile. Then she wrote on her board, "_ Thank you, Master_"

"Sure. Politeness _is _important though, I'm glad you know that already." He handed her the journal. "This is still yours. Write in it whatever you feel like. Try writing about living in the slave trade."

She took the little book and nodded, thinking to herself. This person had shown an upfront, superior attitude like the others; but there was a courtesy there too. The closest thing she'd ever gotten to that was a mutual respect from the other slaves. She wasn't sure what to think of it.

Maybe she wasn't suppose to think of it. Maybe she should continue to count her blessings and do as she was told. At least now she _had _a few blessings to count. He hadn't yelled at her, he wasn't yanking her around or hitting her. He wasn't even showering her with pig names.

And now he was demanding that she eat _tasty _food, _fresh_ food, until she was _full?_ And on top of that he'd permitted her to sleep in a magnificent bed and even given her a _compliment. _She was beside herself. Was this person crazy? If so, what a way to show it. She hoped he was sincere and not planning to pull it all out from under her later. She shook the thought out of her head. He _had_ said he'd never owned a slave before. He wasn't accustomed to their standards. Maybe he just didn't know any better.

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><p><strong>AN So yeah. That's that part of it. It was the first piece I had completed, but no, it's not the very beginning. **

**I wanted to see what everyone thought before adding more so please tell me what you think. Thanks :)**


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